Level 9

Level 9

Famous Disasters: Famous Disasters:

Chernobyl 1986 Chernobyl 1986

Copyright © 2013 by Little Fox Co., Ltd.

All rights reserved.
 The Invisible Disaster The next morning

I n 1986 the town of Pripyat, in what is now Ukraine, was

a thriving community with good schools and the first real
residents grew more
alarmed when it was
supermarket in the country. Its residents, who were mostly announced by radio
employed at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear plant, took great that Pripyat had to be
pride in their flourishing town. evacuated. Worries
But on the morning of Saturday, April 26, the people mounted when military
Workers with masks
of Pripyat awoke on their way to the disaster site men appeared on the
to startling news: streets, wearing face masks and rinsing the ground with
a section of the white powder. Soon a long line of nearly two thousand buses
Chernobyl plant had arrived to take the residents away. The people of Pripyat
exploded during assumed they’d be back in a few days, and so they left
the night. Although behind most of their belongings.
the residents were What lurked in the streets of Pripyat? What invisible
concerned about The unclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine threat forced its residents to leave their homes and never
the plant, they continued with their activities as if it were an return?
ordinary day. Adults ran errands and strolled outdoors in the
sunshine; children rode bikes and played in the streets. Some A Nuclear Accident
people gathered on balconies, trying to catch a better glimpse The explosion at the Chernobyl power plant was the
of the strange, reddish glow coming from the plant. Many worst nuclear accident in history. At the plant, machines
even described the glow as beautiful. Few were aware that called nuclear reactors were used to break apart uranium,
the unusual color was actually a sign of danger—a danger releasing large amounts of energy. The energy was then used
that was about to change their lives forever. to make electricity. But this process also produced radiation,

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which has no taste or smell and cannot be seen by the human The Chernobylites
eye. If radiation is not properly contained or controlled, Immediately after the
it can spread rapidly through the environment, damaging explosion, workers from
tissues and cells and making people and other living things surrounding areas flooded
very sick. in to control the disaster at
A section of the Chernobyl nuclear plant blew up after a the plant. These men, called
safety test went wrong. The accident released a huge amount liquidators, worked for only
of this radiation into the atmosphere, creating the eerie glow short amounts of time, trying
seen from Pripyat. The fallout settled thickly over Ukraine to minimize their exposure.
as well as over Belarus and Russia, contaminating streets, But some later said they
buildings, fields, forests, and bodies of water. Winds blew tasted metal and felt prickly
A monument to the liquidators
more of the radioactive material over central and northern sensations. After the cleanup, in Chernobyl

Europe. hundreds of these men were hospitalized. Many suffered

At the time many farms
in Ukraine produced dairy
products as well as vegetables,
grains, and meat. These food
products quickly absorbed
the fallout, exposing many
people to dangerous levels
of radiation. Governments
around the world had to ban certain foods in order to ensure
people’s safety.
Radiation in food threatened
people’s health as well.
from radiation sickness that caused severe vomiting and
sometimes death. Most of the workers who survived still
suffer from chronic health problems.
The thousands of people who had to leave their
homes and possessions endured more hardships too. The
Chernobylites—as they began to call themselves—faced
discrimination from those who thought radiation could be
contagious. In their new schools, relocated children were
made fun of and excluded. One woman recalled how her son
returned home from school in tears. No one wanted to sit

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next to him in class because he was “radioactive.”
Assessing the Damage
It is estimated that
over 300,000 people
across Europe were
forced to relocate as
a result of Chernobyl.
Millions continue to
suffer from cancer, Many buildings and homes were abandoned.
physical handicaps, financial hardship, and psychological
trauma.
Experts are still determining the extent of the damage.
The government of the Soviet Union, criticized for both its
secrecy about the accident and its slow response in places
like Pripyat, reported that about thirty people had died. But
many scientists believe that the total number of deaths was
actually much higher—and will continue to rise. They point
in particular to a sharp increase in cancer rates in the affected
areas, with thyroid cancer, once a rare disease, affecting
children in large and alarming numbers.
There is also evidence that the radiation from Chernobyl
caused birth defects, heart diseases, and other health
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problems. In parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia, children
were born with abnormal body parts and life-threatening
diseases. Mental health problems
such as depression and anxiety
have been especially troublesome.
Many feel as though Chernobyl
has filled their lives with a sense of
doom; they live in constant fear for
The universal sign for
dangerous radiation the health of their family members.
Nuclear Energy: A Controversy
The Chernobyl disaster has led to a lot of controversy
about nuclear energy. Those who support the use of nuclear
power argue that it’s more efficient than other energy sources
since it produces huge amounts of energy. And, unlike coal
power plants, nuclear plants don’t pollute the atmosphere.
Still, because of concerns about the environment and
people’s health, others protest its use. They fear that a
catastrophe like Chernobyl will be repeated, and point out
another big problem with nuclear energy: its waste remains
radioactive for thousands of years, and there is no easy way
to dispose of it.
The accident at the Chernobyl plant has led to better
safety practices at nuclear power plants, along with But the world’s worst environmental disaster has also
construction of better equipment. But debates about turned into an environmental miracle. After the towns
nuclear energy are likely to continue for many years. And in the exclusion zone were abandoned, grass and weeds
the disaster at Chernobyl, with its millions of victims, is a slowly began covering buildings and streets. Trees sprang
chilling reminder of the dangers involved. up everywhere. Today people regularly spot birds and
other animals such as wolves, horses, and moose. To
An Environmental Miracle everyone’s amazement the
Today Pripyat is a radioactive area around
ghost town, empty except Chernobyl is now one of
for abandoned buildings Europe’s largest wildlife
and possessions left behind sanctuaries—a wilderness
People have even begun spotting
by former residents. Inside wolves in Pripyat. blooming with new life.
homes calendar pages are
still open to April 1986. Toys,
Toys left in an abandoned schoolroom
clothes, and photographs still in Pripyat

lay scattered across floors. It is as though the entire town has

been frozen in time.
The Chernobyl plant is now encased in concrete, and
the last reactor at the plant was shut down in 2000. The
area around the plant is known as the exclusion zone, and
radioactivity lingers there, in fields, forests, and deserted
towns. Experts are unsure of how long it will take for this
zone to become fully safe again.

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Photo Credits

The photo of covers: 2005 Stefan Kühn. Some rights reserved.

Licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 3.0 License.

The photo of page 1: 2006 Carl Montgomery. Some rights reserved.

Licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 2.0 License.

The photo of page 2: 1986 Lu Taskey. Some rights reserved.

Licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 2.5 License.

The photo of page 3: © Photooasis/Dreamstime.com

The photo of page 4: © Lindsay Fincher

The photo of page 5: © Sergeyussr/Dreamstime.com

The photo of page 7: © Andriy Bezuglov/Dreamstime.com

The photo of page 8: © Salazkin Vladimir/Dreamstime.com